A bit on the news last night trying to explain why Zidane did what he did, apparently his mother was ill on the day of the final and in hospital, and the Italian player, Materazzi, said some very unpleasant things about Zidane's mother, and he head-butted him.

Also that Zidane is not political so it would be unlikely for him to reveal his reasons for his attack on Materazzi.

Well, trash talking, someone throws a punch (or in this case a head)... It's all pretty normal in most male sports (not gentlemen sports like tennis or cricket... although in cricket sledging is quite common)... Becks did it, Rooney did it, so why single Zidane out just because he's supposed to be old & wise? He'll get fines and suspension (like that matters), but don't take it too far... I still remember Cantona (another fiery French guy) kungfu kicking a taunting fan, and I don't recall he got any time (in prison) for that... And his career didn't end there...

In here the TV shows AFL & rugby league matches in Friday nights and weekend afternoons, there's plenty of shoving and arm swinging... So perhaps we're trained to be not so sensitive about these behaviours...

wikipedia wrote:He was sent off for violent conduct after headbutting Italy's goalscorer, Marco Materazzi, in the chest in the 110th minute. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and Italy won the championship after a penalty kick shootout.

Both Zidane and Materazzi refused to comment on the incident. Zidane's agent Alain Migliaccio said, "[Zidane] told me Materazzi said something very serious to him but he wouldn't tell me what."[13] Reportedly, the deaf forensic lip-reader Jessica Rees was employed to analyze the video sequences with the help of an Italian translator. Another such analysis was done by Italian lip-reader Marianne Frère. According to these reports, Materazzi spoke in Italian - a language understood by Zidane due to his time spent with Juventus F.C. - and first told him: "Hold on, wait, that one's not for a feccia (i.e. 'sh**', 'sc**') like you." Zidane then allegedly told Materazzi that if he really wanted to have his shirt, he could have it afterwards. It is unclear what Zidane specifically said concerning swapping his shirt, but the claim is backed by Zidane's body language as he walked past Materazzi. Materazzi allegedly replied: "I'd rather take the shirt off your wife." As the players walked forward, he reportedly added: "We all know you are the son of a terrorist whore." Then, just before the headbutt, he was seen saying: "Viffanculo (i.e. 'f*** off')" [14] [15] [16] According to Brazilian TV Rede Globo, a lip-reader claimed that Materazzi twice called Zidane's sister a prostitute.[17] Earlier claims about Materazzi having called his opponent a "dirty terrorist" have been denied by Materazzi, who reportedly said: "It is absolutely not true, I did not call him a terrorist. I'm ignorant. I don't even know what the word means." [18]

Materazzi recounted the incident by telling Gazetta dello Sport: "I held his shirt for a few second only, then he turned to me and talked to me, jeering. He looked at me with a huge arrogance and said: 'If you really want my shirt, I'll give it to you afterwards'. I replied with an insult, that's true." He again denied the accusation that the comment was racist in nature, claiming that he "did not call him a terrorist. I am not a cultured person and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is." He also denied insulting Zidane's mother, saying: "I certainly didn't talk about Zidane's mother" because "for me the mother is sacred, you know that." Another recent report had alleged that Materazzi said he'd "rather take the shirt off of" Zidane's wife. According to Materazzi, it was "the type of insults that we've heard before so many times on the pitch, and sometimes we don't even notice it." [19]

In an interview Zidane said that he will reveal what Materazzi said in a few days,when he feels comfortable with it.

That doesn't make it right or acceptable. Also, the fact that they more or less got away with it proves that that only makes things worse when it comes to on-pitch conduct. Neither Beckham or Rooney (as far as I'm aware) headbutted anybody, that's an escalation in violence. However, when it comes to the redoubtable Eric Cantona..................

udosuk wrote:I still remember Cantona (another fiery French guy) kungfu kicking a taunting fan, and I don't recall he got any time (in prison) for that... And his career didn't end there...

As I recall he was taken to court and given a paltry and downright laughable 'sentence' of community service where he got to choose if he wanted to 'serve' it at the local establishment for boys teaching football. This does not make violence after being goaded acceptable, either.

udosuk wrote:In here the TV shows AFL & rugby league matches in Friday nights and weekend afternoons, there's plenty of shoving and arm swinging... So perhaps we're trained to be not so sensitive about these behaviours...

There is a big, big difference between shoving and arm swinging and downright violence. As I have already said, that which Zidane did is so common here that we have a name for it, it still doesn't make it acceptable and it's still assault.

There are more and more rumours and quotes from lipreaders as time goes on, all purporting to know exactly what was said. As the Wikipedia page says

wikipedia wrote: According to Materazzi, it was "the type of insults that we've heard before so many times on the pitch, and sometimes we don't even notice it."

So, Zidane got himself provoked and sent off for less than nothing. Being Algerian serves only to explain his name, frankly.

The roles of moderators can vary from forum to forum, just as the purposes of the forums themselves can vary. However, on boards intended to be public, moderators are generally accorded additional powers to enforce forum rules and conduct administrative tasks that cannot be trusted to ordinary users (such as pinning threadsif any user were allowed to pin his or her own thread, chaos would ensue).Among a moderator's enforcement duties is often the duty to stop flaming and keep the board a friendly place, free of personal insults (but different boards have different standards, and what is acceptable on one will invariably be prohibited on another). Most boards also ban illegal material (such as warez) and outright pornography, and many also restrict the use of profanity and any violent or sexual images, however in other boards this is considered perfectly acceptable, or even the norm.On some boards, moderators are expected to stay out of all contentious debates, or at least to use alternate accounts to engage in them unbeknownst to common members. On most boards, however, moderators may participate just as any normal member, provided they remain civil and generally obey the site rules. Some boards require moderators not to moderate any discussion or topic they're involved in, and many moderators on other boards take this upon themselves to avoid conflict of interest and bias.As always, there are many exceptions. Many small boards are operated at the whim of the site operator and perhaps some of his or her friends, and moderators might be able to do whatever they feel like on such boards (provided they avoid crossing their colleagues and superiors). Of course, a board with overly harsh or capricious moderators will lose members, but this may not be a concern for those who operate boards for fun or as a tangential matter to their website's main content.

The roles of moderators can vary from forum to forum, just as the purposes of the forums themselves can vary. However, on boards intended to be public, moderators are generally accorded additional powers to enforce forum rules and conduct administrative tasks that cannot be trusted to ordinary users (such as pinning threadsif any user were allowed to pin his or her own thread, chaos would ensue).Among a moderator's enforcement duties is often the duty to stop flaming and keep the board a friendly place, free of personal insults (but different boards have different standards, and what is acceptable on one will invariably be prohibited on another). Most boards also ban illegal material (such as warez) and outright pornography, and many also restrict the use of profanity and any violent or sexual images, however in other boards this is considered perfectly acceptable, or even the norm.On some boards, moderators are expected to stay out of all contentious debates, or at least to use alternate accounts to engage in them unbeknownst to common members. On most boards, however, moderators may participate just as any normal member, provided they remain civil and generally obey the site rules. Some boards require moderators not to moderate any discussion or topic they're involved in, and many moderators on other boards take this upon themselves to avoid conflict of interest and bias.As always, there are many exceptions. Many small boards are operated at the whim of the site operator and perhaps some of his or her friends, and moderators might be able to do whatever they feel like on such boards (provided they avoid crossing their colleagues and superiors). Of course, a board with overly harsh or capricious moderators will lose members, but this may not be a concern for those who operate boards for fun or as a tangential matter to their website's main content.

JPF

However, from the same page :

Wikipedia wrote:Role

The roles of moderators can vary from forum to forum, just as the purposes of the forums themselves can vary. However, on boards intended to be public, moderators are generally accorded additional powers to enforce forum rules and conduct administrative tasks that cannot be trusted to ordinary users (such as pinning threadsif any user were allowed to pin his or her own thread, chaos would ensue).Among a moderator's enforcement duties is often the duty to stop flaming and keep the board a friendly place, free of personal insults (but different boards have different standards, and what is acceptable on one will invariably be prohibited on another). Most boards also ban illegal material (such as warez) and outright pornography, and many also restrict the use of profanity and any violent or sexual images, however in other boards this is considered perfectly acceptable, or even the norm.On some boards, moderators are expected to stay out of all contentious debates, or at least to use alternate accounts to engage in them unbeknownst to common members.On most boards, however, moderators may participate just as any normal member, provided they remain civil and generally obey the site rules. Some boards require moderators not to moderate any discussion or topic they're involved in, and many moderators on other boards take this upon themselves to avoid conflict of interest and bias.As always, there are many exceptions. Many small boards are operated at the whim of the site operator and perhaps some of his or her friends, and moderators might be able to do whatever they feel like on such boards (provided they avoid crossing their colleagues and superiors). Of course, a board with overly harsh or capricious moderators will lose members, but this may not be a concern for those who operate boards for fun or as a tangential matter to their website's main content.